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2017 Sooty Season

After last season’s good result, it was looking very promising in January 2017 too. A record 25 burrows were active, but by February this had dwindled to five. Come mid-late April the colony was deserted, a total failure for the season. We saw nothing untoward at the colony during the season- little or no weka activity, no disturbance, no carnage.

Graeme Taylor at DOC says the sooty season elsewhere was average, with 40-50% of active burrows fledging a chick. He says we need to look closer to home than some at-sea event which might have affected all sites. In contrast, the fluttering shearwater colonies on Mana (communicated by Helen Gummer) and Maud (Biz Bell in the March 2017 Birds New Zealand magazine) had poor results, most likely due to burrows being flooded in heavy rain. Puangiangi also had at least a couple of deluges during the generally acknowledged miserable summer, and despite the excellent drainage at the colony, the chicks may have drowned or died of hypothermia.